Just For This One Night (And Many More To Come)
by Artemis J. Halk
Summary: Part 1/? of my "All Grown Up" series. Years after parting following high school graduation, Marinette chances upon Adrien at a hotel bar. They share their woes over a bottle of wine before they tumble into bed together. However, Marinette wants to make certain that this isn't the last time that they meet.


So I read this fic the other day where adult Adrien and Marinette met up again after years apart. And don't get me wrong, it was good, but I feel like it didn't exactly capture the kind of mature relationship that post-college adults have vs the kind that high schooler's have. And also, it failed to bring up any kind of the crushing realism that adults frequently face. (Which I unfortunately know waaaaay too much about, but that's another story.)

I know that this is a little depressing, and maybe doesn't exactly go in a way that a lot of people would expect for it to go, but... I hope everybody enjoys it, regardless.

This hasn't been proof-read, so if you spot any errors, please let me know so that I can fix them!

* * *

The piano on the small stage had seemed nice and romantic to Marinette at first. But that had been over two hours and three glasses of wine ago.

Not to mention one man who had not shown up, who hadn't called, not even a single text.

This was the last time that she would agree to go out with somebody she met on a dating website. Those guys were the worst! He'd probably come at the agreed upon time, taken one look at Marinette, and then fled the country. He was probably halfway to England by now.

Marinette sighed before she drained the last of her third glass of wine and set the glass back down on the table. She pulled some bills out from her purse and slammed them down on the table. She didn't even care if it was the right amount or not at the moment. Although, judging by the ever-increasing looks of pity from the waitstaff, they wouldn't care so much about being shorted a little for three glasses of wine.

As she went storming towards the door, Marinette paused before she finally stopped. A familiar shock of blond hair, hair that made her heart start to hammer in her chest.

It couldn't be… Could it?

She slowly approached the lone figure who was hunched over a glass of wine at the bar. "Adrien?" she asked with some hesitation after she couldn't determine if it really was him or not.

He startled, looked up at the sound of her calling his name. His gaze met with hers, and her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of him again, after all these years.

His brow furrowed with confusion. "Marinette?" he said with equal hesitation, although for different reasons. It seemed like he barely remembered her, and the thought made her sad.

She'd thought that she'd gotten over Adrien some time ago. After they'd graduated from high school, he'd whisked off to Italy or Japan or New York. It was all Marinette could do to follow his career from a distance as she focused on her college education and the start of her own career. But then, time had gotten away from her, and she'd barely had time to obsess over him like she'd used to. And before she knew it, she hadn't even realized that she'd completely forgotten all about her old flame.

Marinette nodded slightly in response to his question. "What are you doing here?"

"Hiding," he said as he half turned back to his glass of wine.

"Oh," she whispered quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I just…" She swallowed hard. Why was this so hard? Seeing him in person again had reopened all of her old feelings. It was like she was fifteen all over again. "I thought that it was you, and I thought, 'it's so crazy! It can't possibly be him!' And it's just that I'm having such a miserable night and maybe I had a little too much to drink and-" Marinette forced herself to stop talking, and looked away from him awkwardly.

However, Adrien only offered her a shy smile. "Want to join me for a drink?"

"I… What?" Had Adrien just…?

He pushed out the empty bar stool in front of him and patted it. "Come on, Marinette. I need somebody to vent you, and it's clear that you do, too. We can catch up, too." He ran a hand down his face and heaved a heavy sigh. "Lord knows that I need to see a friendly face who doesn't want me to do something for them right now."

After a moment of indecision, Marinette sat. Adrien signaled for the bartender, who was in front of them in a heartbeat. "Ah, madamoiselle, I'm glad to see that your date finally showed up," he said. "More pinot noir?"

"No, he's not my date," Marinette said with an irritated sigh. "I gave up on that guy and I was just about to leave when I spotted an old friend."

"We'll each have another glass," Adrien said. The man poured them another glass before he left as quickly as he came.

Marinette stared down at the wine in front of her, not really knowing what to say to Adrien. So much time had passed. What did he even like to do anymore?

"So, date stood you up?" Adrien asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Oh? Um, yeah," she said with a sigh.

"Well, screw him. You deserve better."

"Thanks," she said, her face flushing with the compliment. "I don't think that I would have minded so much if he'd given me at least a passable excuse. A dog ate my car. My shoes caught on fire. I have to go deflate my grandmother. Whatever. But… Two hours of silence from him." She sighed again and rested her cheek on her fist. "He probably came here, found me, decided that I was worse than a swamp monster, and deleted the dating app from his phone."

"Come on, Marinette," Adrien said gently. "You're a great catch. Any guy would be lucky to have you."

A dismissive snort fell past her lips before she could stop it. "Thanks, but you're just saying that," she said to him. But she couldn't help the faint smile that was now on her face.

"I'm serious!" Adrien protested quickly. "You're really smart, an amazing seamstress who makes breathtaking designs… So what if your fashion career hasn't quite reached worldwide fame just yet, right? And-" He cut himself off before he took a swallow of his wine.

"What? Don't stop there!" Marinette protested. She gave him a cheeky grin, and he returned it, albeit a slightly shyer version.

"You're really pretty," he whispered.

Marinette felt her face flush in a way that it hadn't since she was in high school. Now it was her turn to take an awkward gulp of her wine. "T-thanks," she said after she'd swallowed. She couldn't meet his gaze. "But you don't really mean that."

"I do! I… I always thought that you were cute when we were in school, but you've really grown a lot since then. I hardly recognized you at first."

Marinette looked at him with wide eyes. "You… You thought I was cute?"

He offered her a shy smile. "Yeah. I sort of wished that I'd said something to you before we'd graduated though."

Marinette felt like both her brain and heart had exploded with this news. She didn't even know what to say in response to that, though. What could somebody say in response to that?

So instead, she changed the subject. "Ah… So… You've been busy. Hardly ever in Paris since we graduated. Last I'd heard, you were in… Milan?"

"Ah, that was a while ago," Adrien said. "Tokyo, New York, LA… Things have been rough. Maybe you should be glad that you haven't quite made it as a designer yet, Marinette. Some advice from an insider: just run while you still can." He gave her a sad look that she didn't like to see on his face.

"Adrien…"

"I'm supposed to be in Switzerland right now, doing a photo shoot for some new sweater line or whatever. But… I think that I've finally reached my breaking point. I ran away with my tail between my legs. Hiding in Paris like… Like some kind of a coward!" He swallowed down the last of his wine.

"You're not a coward, Adrien," she said to him gently. She reached out a hesitant hand, but stopped an inch away from his shoulder. "Everybody needs a break every now and again."

Adrien let out a heavy sigh that broke Marinette's heart. "I told my dad a few months back that I was thinking of quitting. Getting out of the modeling— and fashion— business completely. He rudely reminded me that I have very few skills outside of the industry. And I've just been… thinking about what he said to me a lot. That's why I snapped. I don't want to do this anymore. I've only got a few more years left in me before the industry decides that I'm 'too old' anyway." He snorted with derision. "Not like I want to be a part of a world that says that a thirty year old is 'too old', though. Disgusting."

"Adrien," Marinette said heavily. She let her hand rest on his shoulder. He rested his fist on his cheek in a mirror of the position that she'd been in a moment earlier.

"I finally hit my breaking point, so I came back. And now I'm drowning my sorrows in wine in a hotel bar." He offered her a condescending smile. "Pathetic, right?"

"Right up there with being stood up and waiting around for two hours in a hotel bar," Marinette said rather bitterly.

Adrien flagged down the bartender, who was in front of them in a flash again. "More pinot noir?" he asked them.

"S'il vous plaît," Adrien said with a slight nod. "Actually, could you just leave the bottle?" The bartender nodded and left after he'd finished pouring them each a new glass. The half-empty bottle remained behind.

Adrien looked down at his glass for a moment before he picked it up and held it up towards Marinette. "Let's make a toast, shall we?"

"For what?" Marinette asked as she picked up her own glass.

He was silent for a moment as he mulled it over. "Being pathetic together in a hotel bar." He attempted to clink glasses with her, but she pulled her glass away.

"Come on, Adrien. We can think of something better to toast to."

"Okay, fine. What would you suggest?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to be quiet as she thought of something. "To running into old friends after shitty situations."

"I'll drink to that!" Adrien said. They clinked glasses and took a swallow of the wine.

Adrien then grabbed the bottle and stood. "I have a room here. Want to come up? I was tired of drinking alone in my room, so that's the only reason why I came down."

She agreed, and they walked in a comfortable silence over to the elevator. His room was nice, but probably a lot less comfort than Adrien was normally used to.

"Yeah," Adrien agreed when she asked him about it. "I didn't want anybody to find me. So I paid in cash, and used a false name." He sunk onto the sofa and poured himself more wine. "And maybe I'll go back to do the shoot. Maybe for New York Fashion Week. Who knows. But not tonight. Tonight, I am sharing drinks with Marinette."

"Yes," she agreed as she sunk onto the sofa next to him.

She put her wine glass down on the coffee table, and kicked her shoes off. Then, she reached up under her dress to undo the garter clips that held her stockings in place. As she started to take off one of her stockings, she realized that Adrien was watching her intently. She blushed heavily and continued.

"Stupid me," she said, more to herself than Adrien. "Getting all dressed up for a first date with a guy I met online. I keep doing this to myself, and it never ends well." She yanked off the second stocking and dropped it on top of her shoes, along with the first.

"Maybe now I feel lucky, because I have you all to myself," Adrien said with a cocky grin. Marinette simply hummed with agreement, too embarrassed to say anything in response to that. "Who knows what might have happened between us if I'd worked up the courage to ask you out. But I was too shy, too awkward. I didn't know how to properly interact with people then, let alone a girl that I liked."

"I really liked you, too. But I was too shy and awkward to want to say anything. I don't know if you remember, but I would always stammer and trip over my own feet and say too much whenever you were around," she said all in a rush.

Adrien offered her a shy smile. "I remember that," he said wistfully. "For the longest time after we'd first met, I was certain that you hated me because of that gum incident with whats-her-face."

"I was pretty angry," Marinette said with a sigh. "But after you explained to me what had happened, I forgave you. And I also started to fall for you." She offered him a shy smile of her own. "Do you remember? It was raining and you gave me your umbrella, since I had to walk home, and you had a car waiting."

"Yeah, I remember," Adrien said with a slight chuckle. He leaned forward and took her hand. "Marinette, what if this is the universe giving us a second chance?"

"I… What?" Marinette asked with confusion.

"I mean, you showed up just when I was feeling the lowest. And suddenly, all of these feelings that I had for you came crashing back, but somehow even worse. Because since I saw you last, you've somehow gotten even prettier. You went from awkwardly cute to beautiful."

Marinette's eyes went wide, and her face was flushed with embarrassment. Adrien offered her a coy smile. He reached up and brushed his thumb under her lip gently. Marinette just kept staring at him, her gaze unwavering. When she didn't pull away from the simple gesture, Adrien leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

It only lasted a few seconds before they both pulled away. "Adrien," Marinette whispered, her voice husky. "You have no idea how long that I've wanted to kiss you."

Adrien smiled as he leaned in closer to her again. "Then let's make some more memories of pleasant kisses, shall we?" he asked before he kissed her again.

Marinette wrapped her arms around his waist. One of Adrien's hands rested on the swell of her hip, while the other tangled into her dark hair.

Before she knew what was happening, Marinette found herself lying on her back on the sofa, with Adrien on top of her. His fingers ran down her arm lightly, causing it to break out in goosebumps where ever he touched. His other hand started to gently rub small circles over her hip. Marinette brought her hands up to his shoulders, before she allowed herself to tangle her fingers through his hair.

"Marinette," Adrien breathed between kisses. Her name was whispered like a prayer, repeated over and over. It made her shiver with delight and anticipation. "I want you."

He looked down at her, his eyes dark with arousal.

However, Marinette's heart sank a little at the other look on his face.

"But…?" she whispered with confusion and hurt.

"But I don't want to promise you anything right now," he said, his voice full of regret. "I'm still uncertain of my future. I know that I still have a lot of contracts and promises, shows and photo shoots. I don't want to give you something and then just… leave you. You have a life here. I don't."

"Adrien," Marinette whispered sadly. She cupped his face between her hands, and kissed him. It was only going to be a little kiss, one that lasted a second or two. But Adrien responded, and before they knew it, his tongue was back inside of her mouth, his teeth nibbling on her lower lip.

"Adrien," she whispered between kisses. She lightly pushed him back, but not away from her. "I want you too. And maybe it doesn't matter to me that you're trying to figure things out for yourself. But…" She looked away from him.

He caught her chin and smiled down at her. "Marinette. Just for this one night. Let's pretend."

"Pretend?" she asked with confusion.

"Pretend like I don't have to model anymore. That I can just be Adrien, and not tied down by my designer father and that my only selling point is my good looks."

"If you want to be that Adrien, then I will have all that he has to offer me," Marinette said sadly. "If only just for this one night." There was some sadness in the words that she spoke, but she wanted to have this night with Adrien.

Now it was Adrien's turn to cup her cheeks and kiss her over and over. He kissed her as if his kisses would somehow chase away the sorrow that lingered in her heart.

And maybe it worked, because Adrien was here with her now. She promised herself that she wouldn't think of tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, when she'd do the awkward walk of shame home. Tomorrow, when she would probably see Adrien in person for the last time before he flew off to Switzerland or where ever.

His hands caressed her inner thighs, pushing the edge of her skirt up higher and higher. His lips left hers, but only to press against her jaw, her neck, her collarbone.

With restless fingers, she started to undo the buttons on his (designer) shirt. When she'd reached the end, she pushed the fabric out of the way and caressed his flat stomach.

Adrien grabbed one of her hands and put her fingers into his mouth. Marinette gasped with pleasure at the contact of teeth, tongue, and suction had over her. She didn't know that she could feel like that just because somebody was sucking on her fingers.

He released her fingers with a wet noise that sounded so indecent, it should have been made illegal. He met her lips again as his fingers trailed down her sides.

Finally, with a small sound of triumph in the back of his throat, Adrien pulled down the invisible zipper on the side of her dress. Marinette wondered over how he'd know where to look for a second before she remembered who he was.

Adrien. Not some fumbling in the backseat of a car guy she'd met at a coffee shop or over the internet.

Adrien. Her high school crush. Her high school crush who'd apparently liked her back.

Her high school crush who was currently doing indecent things with her breasts through her bra and dress.

She sat up and pushed the dress the rest of the way off of her shoulders, giving Adrien full access to her chest. He leaned over and started to pepper her breasts with kisses. As he did so, he reached behind her and unhooked her bra with one gentle flick of his fingers.

Marinette dropped her bra in the general direction of her shoes and stockings, before she stood and shimmied out of her dress, leaving her clad only in panties and a garter belt.

Adrien stood as well, and quickly picked Marinette up by the back of her legs. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He kissed her soundly and…

Oh! Marinette's eyes went wide as she brushed against his erection.

Adrien nipped at her lower lip playfully as he sat down on the edge of the bed, with Marinette straddling his lap. She settled there for a second, before she slowly started to move her hips against his hard cock. She needed some friction, even if it was through panties, jeans, and whatever else Adrien had on below his pants.

He gazed up at her in a way that made Marinette's heart pound against her chest. She looked away out of embarrassment, and tightened her hold on him.

Adrien chuckled slightly as his thumbs ran in circles over the top of her panties.

"What's so funny?" Marinette asked with a slight frown.

"Just never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined getting a lap dance from you," he said. He put his thumb on her chin and kissed her. "Especially not today, when I was feeling so low."

"I don't want you to feel sad, Adrien," Marinette whispered. "I want to be here to make you smile."

Adrien pressed his forehead against hers and offered her a love-sick smile that made Marinette melt inside. She kissed him and before she knew it, Adrien was lifting her up again. He only turned her around and put her down on the bed instead.

He crawled over her and slowly started to kiss down her stomach, only stopping when he reached the top of her panties. He put his hands on top of her knees and slowly trailed the up her legs until they reached the opposite end of her panties.

"Adrien," she panted out. It took all of her will not to clamp her legs together in an effort to get some much-needed friction and relief.

A second later, she gasped out as Adrien trailed a light finger up the length of the crotch of her panties. He smirked down at her. "Somebdoy's a little wet," he said as he pulled his finger away. He rubbed it against his thumb, enjoying the feel of Marinette's wetness that had soaked through her panties.

He then pushed her panties out of the way and leaned over her.

"A-Adrien!" Marinette gasped out with surprise as she felt his tongue begin to lap against her clit. Her fingers clenched at the comforter tightly as her body rocked with pre-orgasm shivers. A sharp cry escaped her lips against her will as Adrien slipped a finger inside of her.

And when he gently curled his finger upwards and hit her g-spot, she was a goner. She screamed out wordlessly, her body shaking violently through her orgasm. Through it all, Adrien's lips remained against her clit, his tongue flicking against it over and over, and just when it felt like she was finally going to come down from her orgasmic high, he only just brought her to another orgasm.

Marinette quickly lost count of how many that she had.

But finally, she stopped and lay panting and shivering on the bed.

"God, Marinette," Adrien whispered as he pulled away from her slightly. His thumbs caught in the waistband of her panties and pulled them off of her. It was all that she could do to help him, although moving seemed too much at the moment.

He pulled away from her and moved off of the bed. Marinette moaned with protest, but watched him through hooded eyes as he pushed his jeans and boxers off. Before he got back onto the bed, he fished his wallet out from his pocket.

"Please be in there, please be in there…" he said as he looked through it. "Yes. Thank you Frank!" He pulled out a condom.

"Huh?" Marinette asked as she sat up on her elbow. "Who's Frank?"

"He's my assistant. He's always insisting that I need to get laid and keeps slipping condoms into my wallet, my bag, my pockets when I'm not looking. I give them back to him when I find them, but I don't always look. Sometimes, I feel like I've just given up." He tossed his wallet onto the sofa and knelt over Marinette. "But I'm thankful for him now, because I want to bury myself inside of you."

He leaned over and kissed her deeply. As they kissed, Marinette twisted the condom out of his fingers. She pulled away when she'd retrieved it, and quickly tore the wrapper open. She grasped his rock-hard cock with her free hand and quickly slid the condom on over it.

Adrien settled between her legs and slowly pressed inside of her. They both gave off appreciative hisses of pleasure at the contact; Marinette's turned into a loud moan once he was fully inside of her.

She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and urged him into a quick pace. His fingers dug into her hips in a way that she was certain would leave bruises later, but Marinette found that she didn't mind at all. Her own fingers stroked along his back, her nails occasionally biting into the flesh there whenever he hit something deep inside of her that made her cry out with pleasure. She relished the thought of having a physical reminder of their night together.

Adrien's hand left her hip and slowly started to circle her clit. She was already on edge from her earlier orgasms, and it didn't take long for him to bring her to another orgasm. He cried out her name a second later, his hips stilled against her as he came.

With shaking arms, Adrien fell onto the bed next to Marinette. The movement made his dick slip out of her, and they both winced slightly at the loss of contact. He pulled her into his arms, and she snuggled up against his chest.

The room was silent but for the sounds of their panting. Finally, Adrien offered her a sweet, gentle kiss, which she eagerly returned. They quickly lost track of time just kissing one another and gently touching without things getting overly sexual again.

"Do you have to go?" Adrien finally whispered against her lips. Marinette shook her head, and he smiled at her. "Good, I'm glad. Stay with me tonight."

"Gladly," she said with a matching smile of her own. She reached down and pulled off her garter belt, which had remained on the entire time. Then, she reached over the bed and retrieved her panties off the floor. She stood before she pulled them back on, and went into the bathroom to clean herself up a little.

When she came back out, Adrien had pulled on some sweatpants, and was lying under the covers. He patted the space next to him in a tempting way. She retrieved his shirt from the floor in front of the sofa and slipped it on before she joined him in bed again.

"I don't like the thought of you putting clothes on, but maybe it's not so bad to see you wearing my clothes," Adrien said as he tangled his fingers in her hair. She giggled slightly and accepted his gentle kiss. "I want to do more with you, but all that wine and the orgasm is really getting to me."

He rested his head against her chest, and within seconds, he was snoring.

"Adrien," Marinette whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair. She offered him a sad smile.

Despite all of the wine and the orgasms that she'd had, she had a much harder time of falling asleep than her lover. The sad conversation that she'd had with him about his career kept swirling around and around in her mind.

If only there was some way that she could help him…

* * *

Something light yet wet pressed against the side of Marinette's neck and awoke her. She groaned with irritation, and tried to push whatever it was away, only to have somebody grab her hand before it struck.

Her eyes flew open, but then her eyes scrunched closed as her head was wracked with the immense pain of having drunk too much wine the night before. "Oh, ow. My head."

Adrien chuckled next to her. "Hangover?"

"You have no idea. I don't know why I drank so much last night," she complained. Gentle fingers rubbed soothing circles against her temples, and she sighed at the sensation. She leaned against his hand and gently kissed his palm.

She then opened her eyes and smiled up at Adrien. "Morning," he whispered to her as he returned her smile.

"Morning," she replied, happy aside from her hangover.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked as he brushed some of the hair away from her forehead.

Marinette pursed her lips as she considered that. "No, not really." She heaved a heavy sigh. "A lot on my mind."

Adrien kissed her on the lips slightly. "What? I thought that I'd cured all of your problems last night," he said with a gentle laugh.

"You did, but I think that maybe you caused more than you solved," Marinette said heavily.

"Hey, come on. Don't be like that. They're my problems, not yours, okay?"

"Yes, but…" Marinette started. She gently pushed Adrien away and then sat up. "Hey, I have an idea, okay? But first, I need to go home to shower and change." She cringed slightly at the walk of shame that she'd be doing in a little bit. She offered Adrien a reassuring smile after a second, though. "Do you still remember where my parents bakery is?"

"Of course. It's the best bakery in all of Paris! How could I forget!" Adrien said as he offered her an easy smile.

"Meet me there in… an hour?" Marinette asked as she got out of bed.

Adrien grabbed her hand as she stood and kissed the back of it tenderly. "Of course. I'll be counting the seconds until we meet again, Marinette."

She offered him a grateful smile before she went to quickly redress. She decided to forgo putting her garter belt and stockings on, and simply stuffed them into her purse before she left his hotel room with a quick goodbye.

As she began the walk back to her apartment, she shot a quick text to her father to let him know of her plans. When he responded a moment later, she couldn't help but smile to herself. She only hoped that Adrien would like her idea.

* * *

Feeling much refreshed after a shower and a quick change of clothes, Marinette set off for the bakery. Adrien was already there, eating an eclair as he leaned against the counter. He was chatting easily with Sabine, who laughed at something that he'd just said when Marinette stepped inside.

"Ah, Marinette!" Sabine exclaimed when she realized that her daughter had just entered the shop. "I wish that you'd told me earlier that Adrien was back in town!"

"Maman, I only just found out yesterday myself," Marinette said as she walked over to the counter. She accepted the welcoming kiss from her mother. "Where's papa?"

"In back, finishing up a wedding cake for tonight," Sabine said. "What exactly is this exciting proposition that you have for us, then?"

"Come here, and I'll explain it," Marinette said as she slipped into the kitchen. Adrien and Sabine followed after her.

Back there, they found Tom piping rosettes onto a three-tiered white cake. He quickly set the bag of frosting aside when the three of them came in. "It's a very beautiful cake, M. Dupain. The happy couple will be delighted."

"I know that they will be!" Tom said with a cheerful laugh. "Now then, Marinette says that she has something to talk with us all about?"

"It's a long explanation, so please, wait until I finish before anybody says anything," Marinette said as she leaned against the counter. The others nodded with agreement, and Marinette started. "Last night, Adrien was telling me about how tired that he is with the fashion industry, and how he wants to get out of it. But he also expressed a lot of criticism that he's received about this desire, mainly being the fact that he doesn't have a lot of other marketable skills."

She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and realized that her hands were shaking. Adrien offered her a reassuring smile, and she returned it quickly.

"And maybe you could get a job as a translator or something in the city, but that would require a lot of schooling and stuff. So I thought that maybe you could apprentice under my father to become a master baker." She said the last bit in a rush, and was unable to meet anybody's eyes.

Adrien's own eyes went wide, and he looked between Marinette and Tom. Tom watched Adrien silently as he waited for somebody to say something first.

"It's just that you and maman are getting older, and I know that you're being so supportive of my fashion career, even as slowly as it's progressing. And I know that you'd like it if I worked here more often, but I just can't with my own shop and everything right now. And Adrien is a fast learner and I know that he'd be willing and committed." Her eyes widened and she flailed her hands in front of her for a moment. "I-I mean, if you want to, that is." She hung her head with embarrassment.

A huge grin broke out across Adrien's face. "I do love your pies," he said slowly.

Tom remained silent, and turned away from the others. He grabbed a spare apron that hung on the wall, and tossed it over to Adrien. He caught it with some surprise, and looked over to Marinette with wide eyes. She offered him a happy smile.

"Your apprenticeship starts right now. Sabine, go show him how to work the register while I finish up this cake," Tom said as he clapped Adrien on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

Adrien fumbled to put his apron on as he followed Sabine back out to the front of the shop.

Tom picked up the bag of frosting again, and Marinette eagerly hugged her father from behind. "Thank you, papa."

"If you're not doing anything today, you could help by making up another batch of your famous chocolate chip cookies," he said as he piped out more frosting quickly to create another bud.

* * *

After the bakery had cleared out following the lunch rush, Tom had closed the bakery so that he and Sabine could go deliver the cake. Marinette and Adrien slipped over to the park near the bakery, where they sat on a sunny bench and ate a late lunch.

"I'm happy," Adrien said as he looked down at his sandwich. "I know that I'm going to be facing a lot of fall out from the industry, and a massive fight with my father. But I don't really care what anybody thinks." He looked over to Marinette with a sad smile. "How can I ever thank you?"

She put a gentle hand over his own before she leaned over and kissed him tenderly. "By promising me something."

"Anything," Adrien whispered quickly against her lips.

Marinette pulled away and smiled shyly at him. "You said that we would pretend for last night. Just for one night. But I don't want that."

Adrien cupped her cheek and she leaned into his palm. "Then I'll promise you many more to come."

* * *

If you enjoyed this, please take a few seconds to leave me a review!

Also, I hate to be a tease, but I hope to turn this into a little series. Look for the other stories in the near future.


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